​Sunday, October 18th - 10:30 a.m.
"Lessons & Chorales of the American Revolution"​

Old Dutch Church, 272 Wall St., Kingston NY

Part of this weekend's 2026 Burning of Kingston, this unique program collects the voices of people from the great span of humanity who engaged and continue to engage in the American revolution, an ongoing process that seeks liberation and freedom for all. Similar in format to a service of Lessons & Carols, but instead featuring thoughtfully selected music, readings & prayers befitting our nationwide observance of Revolution 250: a time of remembrance and "re"-collecting. 

 

Below is a preliminary draft of the program:
 

Lessons & Chorales
of theAmerican Revolution
with the KAIROS CONSORT OF SINGERS

OLD DUTCH CHURCH OF KINGSTON, NY
October 18, 2026

​

“Out of the Deep” —Composed by English Scholar and Clergyman Henry Aldrich (1648–1710). In colonial
America, this song was performed where church choirs and musical societies flourished. Psalm 130 forms the
lyric to ask God to hear our call for help and mercy.

Welcome
We are celebrating the Spirit of 1776, a nationwide observance of Revolution 250, a time of remembrance
and also “re”-collecting. In Kingston, our city’s festival collects the voices of people from the great span of
humanity who engaged and continue to engage in the American revolution, an ongoing process that seeks
liberation and freedom for all. Today, we listen to songs and prayers that inspired our predecessors: men and
women, enslaved and free, European colonists, sons and daughters of Africa, and the original stewards of
this land, our Native American siblings.

"Creation" —A famous ‘fuguing’ tune by American composer William Billings, originally published in his
1794 collection, The Continental Harmony.

Words of Thanksgiving (Isaiah 40: 21-31)
The earliest ancestors of this land arrived some 13,000 years ago. Their tradition of perpetually
giving thanks to their Creator for the beauty and abundance of our land is inscribed on the prayer
plaque our native friends planted in our churchyard on the corner of Main and Wall Streets. Early
Dutch colonists lived on farms among native neighbors who welcomed them and taught life skills
that native people had developed over millennia. In June 1652, the Englishman Thomas Chambers
purchased the first large tract of land in the Ulster County area from the Esopus People. Two Esopus
sachems (Algonquin for supreme political leaders), Kawachhikan and Sowappekat, put their marks
on an agreement which began the era of European land seizure and concluded in the forced Exodus
of the Esopus people. May the voices of our native siblings ring out in our nation for the care of all
people and all creation, as the Prophet Isaiah cries out with the Creator’s voice.
“Have you not known? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
The Creator sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers.
It is God who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them like a tent to live in.
It is God who brings princes to naught and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.
Scarcely are they planted, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth ...

Then God merely blows upon them, and they wither.
The tempest carries them off like stubble.”

“Genevan Psalter” —Psalms 1 and 4. This celebrated 16th-century collection of metrical psalms was
created under the guidance of John Calvin, forefather of Reformed Christianity. The psalms inspired the first
members of this church who organized themselves in 1659, male and female are listed on a plaque on the
West side of our entranceway. Before an ordained minister traveled over the ocean from Amsterdam,
Kingston colonists gathered in our first building that served as a place of worship, as city hall, and the court
of justice to listen to a Voorlezer (Dutch for reader) intone biblical words they were too illiterate to read on
their own.

Words of Comfort (Isaiah 40: 1-8)
In 1777, after their defeat in Saratoga, British troops punished New York’s capital by burning our city to the
ground, including our first wood and stone church, located on this same parcel of land. For comfort we turn
to God’s words to the Prophet Isaiah. After the Babylonian empire burned Solomon’s grand temple to the
ground along with the city of Jerusalem, and in the midst of their 70-year captivity as enslaved people in
Babylon, God’s voice rang out with consolation, mercy, and promise for a brighter future.
“Comfort, O comfort my people,” says our God. “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her. Tell her she has
served her term. Enough suffering—her penalty is paid! For she has received from the Lord’s hand double for
all her sins.” And so, still today, a voice cries out for us, too:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up.
Every mountain and hill be made low.
Uneven ground shall become level.
Rough places will smooth out like a plain.
Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed.
And all flesh shall see it together.” A voice says, Cry out!
We answer—What shall we cry?
The grass withers. The flower fades.
But the word of our God stands forever.

“Chester”—This patriotic song helped carry our fledgling nation to victory over the British empire.
Composed by William Billings for his 1770 songbook, The New England Psalm Singer and revised in 1778,
after the Burning of Kingston. This song came to rival Yankee Doodle as the unofficial anthem of the rebel
colonies.

Words for the Bereaved and Wounded (Isaiah 40: 9-11)
Get you up to a high mountain, O Jerusalem, herald the good news!
The Lord God comes with might and his mighty arm rules for him.
God will feed his flock like a shepherd.
God will gather the lambs in his arms and carry them in his bosom.
And gently God will lead the mother sheep.
God’s word gathered all people and gently led their mother sheep! Yet while European colonists
fought and died for their freedom, too many Africans and their descendants whom colonists
enslaved suffered and died alongside them. Many were kidnapped from Africa where

spiritual traditions already merged the stories of Jerusalem’s Bible with mystical traditions,
as the parents of our city’s
patron saint, Sojourner Truth, taught her. We offer up to God a lament for the death and
destruction that Black siblings suffer in America’s wars and in times of relative peace. We thank God
for Black communities and Black voices of liberation, faithfulness and wisdom that help lead
our nation.

“Resignation" —Florence Price composed this intimate, deeply emotional art song and choral work,
featuring her own original text that mirrors the structure and profound yearning of a
traditional African-American spiritual. When the Chicago Symphony Orchestra premiered it in 1933, it
became the first symphonic work by an African American woman ever played by a
major American orchestra.

Words of Encouragement (Isaiah 40: 28-31)
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God.
The Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint.
And strengthens the powerless.
Even our young people grow faint and be weary,
But those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength!
They shall mount up with wings like eagles!
They shall run and not be weary.
They shall walk and not faint.

“Turn Ye, Turn Ye" —An early choral anthem composed by American iconoclast Charles Ives around 1890.
A surprisingly traditional, tonal piece written during his teen years, it sets a 19th-century evangelical text
inviting listeners to accept divine grace for their sin and "come home.”

Sharing the Peace
Let us pause to thank one another for sharing this sacred time and space that hold
God’s special promise: God’s love and justice is enough to renew the whole world.
May God’s peace dwell with you.
And also with you.
We invite you to share a word of peace with your neighbors.
A Word of Offering
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

​

“How Can I Keep From Singing” —The lyrics were first printed in 1868, in the New York Observer,
under the title "Always Rejoicing,” credited to “Pauline T.” The famous accompanying tune was written by
American Baptist minister Robert Lowry and published in 1869.

SENDING AND BENEDICTION (Psalm 1, Jeremiah 17: 7-8; 13)
Blessed are you when you plant trust in your Creator.
We shall be like trees planted by water.
Such trees send out roots to drink from the stream.
When heat blazes, such trees do not fear!
Their leaves stay green. In a year without rain, they are not anxious.
They bear fruit without ceasing.
You, too, shall bear the fruit of the spirit of independence, freedom, and community.
May we drink from the fountain of living water!
Our service has ended.
Let our service begin.

"Eternal Father, Strong to Save" —A British hymn traditionally associated with seafarers, particularly in
United States maritime armed services. Written in 1860, its author, William Whiting, was inspired by the
dangers of the sea described in Psalm 107.

​

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

​

​FALL CONCERT: Sunday, November 22nd, 3:00 p.m

Ascension Holy Trinity Church

1585 Rt. 9W, West Park NY

​

Details coming soon! 

​​

(Suggested donation: $20)

​

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

​

Annual Service of Lessons & Carols: Sunday, December 20th, 3:00 p.m.

Holy Cross Monastery

1615 Rt. 9W, West Park NY 

​

This beautiful annual service uses traditional scripture readings

to narrate the story from humanity's fall to the Nativity,

with music that reflects the themes of each reading and the

quiet reflection and joyful anticipation of the Advent season. 

​​

The service is free to the public; free-will offerings are strongly encouraged.​

All donations will be matched by the Holy Cross Community to benefit local food-based charitable organizations.

​

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

​

Previous Events Spring 2026

​

​​​​​Spring Concert: "Rebellion & Hope"

Sunday, May 3, 2026 - 3:00 PM

Ascension Holy Trinity Church

1585 Rt. 9W, West Park NY

​

For this concert we explore how different composers and poets approach the subject of protest or rebellion, with a selection of music spanning nearly a thousand years: from the middle of the 12th century to the present. Featuring works of Hildegard, Palestrina, C.H. Parry, and contemporary composers Chris Hutchings, Carlos Cordero, & Christopher Tin, plus some traditional songs and spirituals, this concert will be by turns thought-provoking, inspiring, and deeply moving.​

​

Annual Service of Lessons & Anthems

Sunday, March 22, 2026  - 3:00 pm
Holy Cross Monastery
1615 Rt 9W - West Park NY
 

Holy Cross Monastery and Kairos will present their Annual Lenten Service of Lessons & Anthems, featuring motets by Anton Bruckner, Carlo Gesualdo, Orlando Gibbons, Kenneth Leighton, Carlos Cordero, and more.

​

Consisting of a series of scriptural readings interspersed with choral works and congregational hymns, the contemplative nature of this event provides a meaningful time for introspection and reflection, regardless of religious affiliation (or lack thereof). 
 

The service is free to the public, and free-will offerings are strongly encouraged.

​

All donations will be matched by the Holy Cross Community to benefit local food-based charitable organizations.
 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  

Good Friday Service
 

Friday, April 3, 2026 - 7:00 PM

Redeemer Lutheran Church

90 Route 32 South, New Paltz, NY

This contemplative service features music sung by Kairos woven throughout the reading of The Passion. The music will include motets by Anton Bruckner, Carlo Gesualdo, Orlando Gibbons, Kenneth Leighton, Carlos Cordero, and more.

​

This service is free and open to the public; goodwill offerings are gratefully accepted.